Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School creates memorial wall dedicated to alumni in military

Thursday

May 29, 2014 at 10:42 PMMay 29, 2014 at 10:48 PM

Jeffrey D. WagnerCorrespondent

DIGHTON — There is a wall at Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School commemorating school sports achievements. There is also an area dedicated to the students’ academic achievements.

But up until last week, there was nothing celebrating the vast number of Dighton-Rehoboth graduates who have enlisted in the military.

As of last Friday, thanks to a schoolwide effort, that trend changed.

“There was that piece that was missing,” Assistant Principal Kevin Braga said. “The reason we were able to win those championships was through the sacrifices of our (military service) men and women.”

Last Friday, the school community kicked off Memorial Day weekend in style by unveiling a 20 by 10-foot painted flag, a bench underneath it and posts holding the benches with military decor and other unique touches on them.

The wall also carries the engraved names of D-R alumni who have served the country.

Braga said the idea was formed last year while he was talking with a teacher who is a retired Navy captain. The teacher showed him some pictures of former students who have served.

From there, the project evolved, and involved some of the vocational students in the school studying carpentry and machine technology. It also involved some of the audiovisual students in the high school.

Braga also turned to someone who is quite passionate about honoring veterans — D-R junior Rachel Sousa, who helped coordinate efforts and even reached out to the two communities’ respective veteran’s agent.

“It has always been a subject that I have been passionate about,” Sousa said, adding that she conducted a research project during her freshmen year on the rights that veterans should be entitled to.

The wall also has touched at least two Dighton selectmen who served in the military — Patrick Menges and Thomas Pires.

Both graduates of the school district, they heaped praise on the effort.

“Those people who have served from Dighton-Rehoboth: It is a good way to remember everybody,” said Pires, a lifelong resident who served in the United States Air Force.

“It was a fabulous presentation,” said School Committee Chairwoman Eliza Couture, who said she will be highlighting the effort and expressing words of thanks during her next report to the School Committee. “It was a fabulous evening, and I think it is something the school needed — to show past and present service men and women that we appreciate them and how they fight for our freedoms.”